1812Blockhouse

NOTE: This is our 40th post in the Landmarks of Mansfield series. These posts routinely rank among the most-read on 1812Blockhouse, which signifies to us that the city has a proud heritage that its citizens value. The other posts in the series can be found here.

Sometimes an element of good can come from a tragic event, particularly one that does not involve loss of life or limb. More…

NOTE: This post in our Landmarks of Mansfield series was first published a year ago today, on Christmas Eve 2017. It has been updated with additional information.

One of the many outstanding houses built along Park Avenue West was constructed for a family associated with, of all things, cigars.

Cigar manufacturing and wholesaling was big business in turn of the last century Mansfield. Large companies such as the American Cigar Company occupied large business blocks downtown. Over 1,000 Mansfielders were employed in these concerns which produced over 200,000 cigars a day!

The arrival of mass produced cigarettes after World War brought a downturn, however, and by the 1930s few such businesses were in operation. One of the giants during of the heyday of cigar manufacture was the Rigby Cigar Company, headed by James Arthur Rigby (known primarily as J.A. Rigby). Rigby brands included the well-known “Dolly Dollar” five cent cigar. More…

Publisher’s Note: We are re-posting this look at Kingwood, the house at Kingwood Center Gardens, in honor of Christmas at Kingwood going on now through December 30. Questions about the house are often heard as visitors walk up and down its halls during the event.

In 1926, a bit of France landed in the middle of north central Ohio in the form of Kingwood, the home of Charles Kelley King. Ninety years-plus later, it forms the centerpiece for one of the region’s foremost attractions and one of the best-known public gardens in the entire Midwest. More…

It sits now as it originally did, anchoring Central Park and providing a pleasant oasis of sight and sound.

The Vasbinder Fountain is certainly a Mansfield landmark of the first order. Dedicated on July 4, 1881, it was removed in the late 1950s during the creation of the then-controversial Park Avenue cut-through, and after storage and a temporary placement at Malabar Farm, it was returned to Central Park in 1979.

As a commemorative plate shares, the fountain was donated by David and Jane Vasbinder. More…

By the time that the May Building was constructed on the southeast corner of South Main and South Park Streets, facing Central Park, the name “May” had been known by Mansfielders for some 90 years. More…

The fact that the John Krause House sits where it does is something which has puzzled some historians.

The house was designed with strong Prairie Style influences, much as its two-block-away neighbor, the Rufus Kern House at number 608 Park Avenue West. These two houses were built in a style which was not often found on Midwest main streets, as the influence of architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright was considered a bit “modern” and not exactly mainstream. More…

Mansfielders of today might not recognize the original name of this familiar building, itself nearing its 100th birthday.

On Sunday, October 10, 1920, the Grace Gospel Tabernacle was dedicated at 95 East Third Street in downtown Mansfield. The congregation, which had been founded just four years previously, was enthusiastic about their new building — which was already a bit snug. More…

The three story brick building currently being renovated in downtown Mansfield bears the name of its original owner and builder.

Dr. Mary Jordan Finley was a person of great note, not only for being a female physician at a time when such was relatively uncommon, but also based on her contributions to the community in which she lived. More…

The imposing brick house at 234 Park Avenue West once belonged to an imposing coal man.

His name was Charles William Upson. Upson, who was born in Tallmadge in 1855, came to Mansfield shortly after his 1879 graduation from Cornell University. A shrewd businessman, he joined with his brother and formed the Upson Brothers Coal Company. Coal remained his life for some 40 years. More…

The Colonial has graced the southeast corner of Park Avenue West and Benton Street since 1905 with its imposing three story front portico.

The building was erected by local businessman Edward William Dann. Dann, who lived from 1869 to 1950, was initially engaged in the fruit business, and moved to Mansfield from Columbus in the latter years of the nineteenth century. He would eventually become a board member and then president of the Richland Mutual Insurance Company. More…

It is altogether fitting that the house at 544 Park Avenue West is painted in several hues. After all, in its day the house was home to a man whose business regularly dealt with colorful things.

Robert Sandiford was known in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a a master florist and horticulturalist. A native of London, England, Sandiford lived in both Canada and Cleveland before reaching Mansfield about 1870. More…

It’s a property that was nearly lost to history several years ago, and one which still seeks a more certain future.

The brick house at 331 Prescott Street, which sits on a rise of land not far from Oak Hill Cottage, has ties to Mansfield’s industrial past. It was built in the early years of the Civil War by Henry D. Keith, and then purchased by local civic leader Joseph Allonas a few years later. More…